8 The Square, Hillsborough, County Down, BT26 6AG

8 The Square, Hillsborough

A semi-detached three-storey Georgian townhouse over basement, built around 1740. The house faces north on the south side of The Square, standing as one of a pair with number 9 The Square. It occupies a corner plot between Dromore Road to the west and Park Lane to the east, positioned beside Hillsborough Castle and the Court House. The pair dominates the south side of the square and is prominently visible when approaching the town from north or south.

The building is rectangular on plan with a pitched natural slate roof, black clay ridge tiles, and a large rendered chimneystack rising from the south gable. Cast-iron guttering is supported on iron brackets and returns to the gable with cast-iron downpipes, all set beneath a moulded sandstone eaves cornice. The walling is dry-dash rendered with smooth render quoins and a painted render plinth course above the basement level. A railed basement area extends in front of the building.

The north-facing front elevation is three windows wide with a door opening to the right-hand side bay. Window openings are square-headed with smooth render surrounds, painted masonry sills, and timber sash windows. The second floor retains largely original 3/3 timber sash windows, while the remainder have 6/6 sashes with continuous sill courses to the ground floor, no horns, and some cylinder glass. The basement has a single-pane timber sash window. The round-arched door opening has a painted quadrant moulded surround with impost mouldings and keystone. The original timber door features six raised and fielded panels above three flush panels, with a lintel cornice and webbed timber fanlight above. The door opens onto a granite paved platform shared with the neighbouring house and is accessed by five granite steps enclosed to the basement area by wrought-iron railing on a low rendered plinth wall with stone coping.

The east gable fronts onto Park Lane and is blank. The four-storey rear elevation has an irregular window pattern resulting from windows to the half-landings. The basement and ground floor are two windows wide, while the first and second floors are three windows wide. Largely original timber sash windows include 3/3 to the second floor and 6/6 to the remainder, except the basement with 8/4 sashes. A single square-headed door opening at basement level features a timber panelled and glazed door opening into the garden. The west elevation is abutted by the neighbouring house.

A small rear garden is enclosed by rubblestone walls with a small brick shed at the south end.

Historical Background

The house was built around 1740 as part of Lord Hillsborough's (later the first Marquess of Downshire) scheme to develop the town. A map of 1745 shows a terrace of houses running along the south side of the square. Harris's survey of County Down (1744) records that Lord Wills Hill "has already erected two Ranges of commodious Houses, to each of which are annexed a Garden" to encourage linen manufacturers. The current building is one of the oldest surviving buildings in this part of Hillsborough.

An estate map of around 1800 identifies the resident as Mr Magill. The remainder of the original terrace was partially demolished by the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833, as part of Lord Downshire's scheme to re-route the Moira Road away from Hillsborough Castle, and was completely cleared by the second edition of 1858.

The house and its neighbour are listed in the Townland Valuation (1828–40) as a single dwelling occupied by Henry Jefferson and valued at £16 16 shillings. By Griffith's Valuation (1856–64), the property had been divided into two separate dwellings. The current building was occupied by Anne Green, a tea and coffee dealer who ran a small shop on the premises. The valuation was £13 10 shillings, later raised to £15, with yearly rent of £10, which the valuer described as low. The Green family remained in residence until 1906, when following the death of Charlotte Green (Spinster), the property passed to the Reverend Charles W Harkness in 1907. Reverend Harkness was Curate at Hillsborough from 1901–4 and Rector of Kilwarlin Parish Church from 1906 to 1928. Subsequent tenants included Isabella McCanna (1908), William J Biller (1912), and Eleanor Payne (1920).

The house was listed in 1976 and remains in use as a private residence.